1996 British Grand Prix

The 1996 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1996. It was the tenth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship.

1996 British Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1996 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Silverstone Circuit (as modified in 1996)
Race details
Date	14 July 1996
Official name	XLIX British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.072 km (3.152 miles)
Distance	61 laps, 309.392 km (192.247 miles)
Weather	Warm and sunny with temperatures reaching up to 25 °C (77 °F)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:26.875
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time	1:29.288 on lap 21
Podium
First	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Second	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault
Third	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

Williams' Jacques Villeneuve took his second win of the season from Benetton's Gerhard Berger, with McLaren's Mika Häkkinen coming home third for his first podium since his near-fatal crash at 1995 Australian Grand Prix. Jordan's Rubens Barrichello took fourth, equalling his best finish of the season, and it came after he had been involved in late collisions while racing for fourth place at the circuit in the previous two years. The final points went to David Coulthard in the second McLaren and Martin Brundle in the second Jordan.

Damon Hill took pole position for his home race, but made a slow start and retired shortly before half distance, after a wheel nut problem caused him to spin off at Copse Corner while he was trying to pass Häkkinen.^[2] For the third consecutive race, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were both forced to retire with technical issues in the first six laps – Schumacher with hydraulic problems and Irvine with a differential failure. Jean Alesi would become another notable retirement on lap 45 from 3rd place, just ahead of teammate Gerhard Berger when his rear brakes overheated.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Diff.	Grid
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:26.875		1
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:27.070	+0.195	2
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:27.707	+0.832	3
4	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.856	+0.981	4
5	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:28.307	+1.432	5
6	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	1:28.409	+1.534	6
7	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:28.653	+1.778	7
8	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	1:28.946	+2.071	8
9	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:28.966	+2.091	9
10	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:29.186	+2.311	10
11	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	1:29.591	+2.716	11
12	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:29.913	+3.038	12
13	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	1:29.947	+3.072	13
14	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:29.949	+3.074	14
15	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	1:30.102	+3.227	15
16	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:30.167	+3.292	16
17	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	1:31.076	+4.201	17
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	1:31.365	+4.490	18
19	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	1:31.454	+4.579	19
107% time: 1:32.956
—	23	Andrea Montermini	Forti-Ford	1:35.206	+8.331	DNQ
—	22	Luca Badoer	Forti-Ford	1:35.304	+8.429	DNQ
EX	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	No time		201
Sources:[3][4][5]

• ^1 Rosset was excluded after missing an FIA weight check. He was allowed to start at the back of the grid.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	61	1:33:00.874	2	10
2	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	61	+ 19.026	7	6
3	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	61	+ 50.830	4	4
4	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Peugeot	61	+ 1:06.716	6	3
5	8	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	61	+ 1:22.507	9	2
6	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan-Peugeot	60	+ 1 lap	8	1
7	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Yamaha	60	+ 1 lap	14
8	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Ford	60	+ 1 lap	11
9	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Ford	60	+ 1 lap	13
10	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork-Hart	60	+ 1 lap	15
11	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Minardi-Ford	59	+ 2 laps	18
Ret	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	44	Wheel bearing	5
Ret	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	40	Handling	16
Ret	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier-Mugen-Honda	38	Engine	17
Ret	5	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	26	Wheel nut	1
Ret	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi-Ford	21	Gearbox	19
Ret	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork-Hart	13	Electrical	20
Ret	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	12	Timing belt	12
Ret	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	5	Differential	10
Ret	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	3	Hydraulics	3
Source:[6]

Notes

• Last race: Forti
• Last race: Andrea Montermini
• Ricardo Rosset's qualifying times (best 1:30.529) were scratched after he missed the FIA weight check, dropping him from 17th to 20th on the grid.^[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Damon Hill 63 2 Jacques Villeneuve 48 3 Michael Schumacher 26 4 Jean Alesi 25 5 Gerhard Berger 16 Source: [7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 111 2 Benetton-Renault 41 3 Ferrari 35 4 McLaren-Mercedes 32 5 Jordan-Peugeot 13 Source: [7]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. Weather info for the 1996 British Grand Prix at Weather Underground
2. "F1 News – Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Races > British GP, 1996". Grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
3. "Britain 1996 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
4. "1996 British Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
5. "Britain 1996 – Starting grid". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. "1996 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
7. "Britain 1996 - Championship". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.

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